buying our first home in queens, ny: Roof Vents and Solar Fan Installed this Weekend

The weather has been spotty this week, with rain, rain, and more rain. We took a chance on Saturday, and decided we could install the vents and solar fan ourselves--we tried to get roofers out to look, but they were WAY too busy to even give this little job a second thought.

From start to finish, the job took about six hours. And two trips to HomeDepot prior to starting All up, the parts for the project cost around $1350, with the solar fan and roof curb eating up $1160 or so. Both the fan and the pop-vents have a lifetime warranty. And they were made in TX and upstate NY, respectively.

Assembling the bathroom vent

Kitchen vent waiting to be assembled

Finally, everything up on the roof

The two passive vents were easy; I just needed to cut the roof membrane--the previous roofer cut the roof-deck but forgot to install them....

Second passive vent. I used

Loctite PL 10 fl. oz. Black Polyurethane Roof and Flashing Sealant in a caulk gun to seal the vents and curb to the roof.

Sunset at about 6:30p-kinda running out of time--roof curb will have to wait 'til tomorrow

Three down, one to go. The bathroom vent is ready to go in. The kitchen vent is on the right.

I had put a screw up through the underside of the roof to mark the center of the hole needed for the bathroom and kitchen vents. Then it was a matter of making a 6" hole with the reciprocating saw.

Day 2, Sunday 8am. Ready to install the roof-curb (top left). The solar fan is on its side and awaits its solar panel with adjusting bracket.

Cut hole for solar fan. Note the wire inside the hole. The house's cornice is attached, tied off, and supported with a dozen or so of these wires along the front.